Construction unions are reporting that 30% of their members are still unemployed or between jobs. Public projects are raising hopes, but as one carpenter's union spokesperson puts it, "The private sector is dead."
Kevin O'Leary writes, "Commercial construction workers are in a bind. Before, if work dried up in Boston or Seattle, carpenters, electricians and plumbers would pack up and go to Las Vegas or Texas or Alaska. "Now there is no work anywhere," says Mark Erlich, whose New England Regional Council of Carpenters represents 22,000 union members in six states. "The largest problem is the continued lack of financing," says Jerry Rhoades, executive secretary treasurer of the Florida Carpenters Regional Council."
FULL STORY: The Great Recession: Will Construction Workers Survive?
92% of DC Construction Groups Struggle to Hire Workers Amid ICE Raids
Contractors are being forced to delay project timelines as more workers stay home to avoid ICE dragnets.
Why Housing Costs More to Build in California Than in Texas
Hard costs like labor and materials combined with ‘soft’ costs such as permitting make building in the San Francisco Bay Area almost three times as costly as in Texas cities.
EPA Terminates $116 Million in Grants for Reducing Emissions from Construction Materials
C-MORE grants were earmarked for industry trade groups and universities.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association